The present invention relates to a device for the serial collection of body fluids and, more particulary, to a device useful in the post-surgery serial collection and analysis of urine samples.
In certain surgical procedures involving the urinary system, such as resection of the prostate, the patient is initially catherized after surgery with a conventional foley catheter to allow urine and blood clots to be freely drained from the bladder. After a period of days, typically 2-5, the catheter is removed and serial urine specimens from subsequent voidings are visually analyzed to observe urine clarity. As healing progresses and the blood content of the urine samples diminishes or disappears, urine clarity is one of the most significant factors utilized by the physician in determining when the patient can be discharged. After the catheter is removed, it is important that a sample from each voiding be observed and compared with preceeding samples to determine changes in relative clarity.
Presently, serial urine samples are collected by taking a portion of each voiding into a conventional urinal and pouring it into a specimen bottle or jar. A patient who is ambulatory and self-sufficient may be given several specimen bottles and asked to pour a sample from the conventional urinal into a bottle. If the patient is assisted by the nursing staff, the procedure is essentially the same. In either case, the procedure is cumbersome, inconvenient, and relatively unsanitary. In addition, the use of several individual sample bottles can result in a mixup, sample loss by spilling and the like, or other inaccuracies in the monitoring of the serial specimens.
Serial collection of urine from a catheterized patient is well known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,502 discloses a urine collection bag within which the outlet end of a catheter may be manually positioned to direct the flow into individual separable compartments or a larger reservoir to handle excess flow. The system is intended particulary to preclude external sample contamination. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,561,427 and 3,194,069 show devices for the automatic serial collection of urine samples from a catheterized patient, the devices being intended primarily for determining timed urinary output. The device disclosed in each of the patents includes a large cylindrical collection container divided into separate compartments into which the flow is serially directed by automatic timed rotation of the collection container.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,898 discloses a device for the collection of urine from a single voiding and dividing it into multiple test samples. The single sample is directed into an upper container where it drains through multiple openings into a compartmented lower container to provide equal volume test samples. U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,337 also shows a device for dividing a single voiding into multiple test samples. The collection apparatus directs the initial forestream portion into a main reservoir and, after receiving a predetermined volume, automatically directs the midstream flow to smaller sample compartments to provide individual test samples.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,388,922 discloses a system for the automatic serial collection of body fluids in vacuum or suction canisters. The system utilizes serially connected canisters, but is intended for use during surgical procedures to facilitate the drainage of body fluids in relatively high volumes.
None of the prior art nor the specific methods in present use address the problems which currently exist in the serial collection of naturally voided urine specimens to monitor post-surgery clarity and color. There is, therefore, a need for a means to facilitate sample collection which is accurate, safe and sanitary, and yet is relatively simple and easy to use.